On This Day for August 11 - Jackson Pollock killed in automobile accident, Pervez Musharraf is featured, and more

Created: 2020-08-11 10:05 Updated: 2020-08-11 10:05 Notebook: On this Day in History

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August 11

FEATURED BIOGRAPHY

Pervez Musharraf

FEATURED EVENT

1956

Jackson Pollock killed in automobile accident

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MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY

2014: American comedian and actor Robin Williams, who was known for his manic stand-up routines and his diverse film performances, committed suicide. [ Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about A-list actors.]

1984: At the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Carl Lewis became the third track-and-field athlete to win four gold medals in one Olympics, joining fellow Americans Alvin Kraenzlein (1900) and Jesse Owens (1936). [Take our quiz about track and field.]

1964: The Beatles' first feature film, A Hard Day's Night, had its U.S. premiere in New York City; released during the height of Beatlemania, it is now widely considered a classic.[ Sort fact from fiction in our Beatlemania quiz.]

1942: American actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil received a patent for an electronic device that minimized the jamming of radio signals; it later became a component of satellite and cellular phone technology. [Read our list of seven celebrity inventors, including Hedy Lamarr .]

1929: In a game against the Cleveland Indians, Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees hit his 500th career home run, becoming the first baseball player to reach that milestone. [See where Babe Ruth ranks on our list of the 10 greatest baseball players of all time.]

1921: Alex Haley, an African American writer best known for The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965) and Roots: The Saga of an American Family (1976), was born in Ithaca, New York. [Take our quiz about famous authors.]

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ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY

1950

Steve Wozniak
American electronics engineer

1965

Viola Davis
American actress

1933

Jerry Falwell
American minister

1943

Pervez Musharraf
president of Pakistan

1897

Enid Blyton
British author